Past and Presence of an Iconic
Bicycle Brand

Tony Hadland

Ten years in the making,
Raleigh is a beautifully
illustrated, thorough and up-to-date
history of the world's
best-known bicycle company,
describing its ups and downs
and the products it has made
over the years.

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About the book

Founded in Nottingham, England,
in 1887, the Raleigh name still
appears on bicycles sold today
around the world. In fact, there are
now two distinct Raleigh companies,
one in England, the other in the
United States, each with its own
product range tailored to their
respective markets.

Author Tony Hadland, with the
help of several contributors, has
meticulously researched the
development of the Raleigh brand
through the 125 years of its
existence.

What the Critics Say

This is an enormous work,
encompassing 368 pages, covering the
entire history of the iconic British
bicycle brand in no fewer than 46
chapters, from the birth of (company
founder) Frank Bowden in 1848 to
2011.

In many ways, this is the story of
our island race writ (very)
large--its growth to imperial glory
and sad retreat as bigger and
clumsier players strode onto the
world stage. At some time or another
in the century of manufacturing from
1880 to 1980, Raleigh had a toe-hold
just about everywhere.

Like the big British car and
motorcycle manufacturers, Raleigh
seems to have developed a rather
complacent attitude after so many
decades at the top of its game, and
when younger, sharper operators
arrived, it just crumbled. According
to Marvin Cresswell, who worked for
Raleigh's marketing department for
thirty years, the declining years
proved to be a frustrating period:
'The marketers, who had done so much
to establish the brand image of
Raleigh, were succeeded in the 1960s
and 1970s by complacency, lack of
imagination and in many cases,
ineptitude.'

The 46 chapters in this huge work
are mostly laid out chronologically,
thank goodness, but there are a few
fascinating asides, such as
motorised bicycles, and the last
chapter, The Art and Image of
Raleigh. This covers the history of
Raleigh advertising, which reads as
something of a metaphor for the rise
and fall for Raleigh itself.

Raleigh is a fascinating work
by a master on the subject.

A to B Magazine, England,
No. 87, December 2011

From the contents

About the author

Tony Hadland
is a retired land-surveyor with a
degree in architecture. He has had a
lifelong interest in bicycles and
bicycle history. His earlier books
include The Sturmey-Archer Story,
The Moulton Storey, and
The Spaceframe Moultons, and,
together with the late John
Pinkerton, It's In the Bag.

Contributing author
Scotford Lawrence is a
retired executive with a doctorate
degree in Art History, and has a
special interest in the imagery of
the bicycle. His contribution is a
heavily chapter devoted to "the Art
and Image of Raleigh"